


Bedside Manner

by tallestgirlonearth



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Barisi Valentine's Cliché Challenge, Fluff, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Valentine's Day, prompt 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:27:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29154303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tallestgirlonearth/pseuds/tallestgirlonearth
Summary: There’s an addendum to Murphy’s Law that’s not commonly known, and it goes like this: If you are a detective, the chances of anything going wrong are directly proportional to the plans you made for the day in question.A lesson Sonny and Rafael will learn this Valentine's Day, the first one as a couple.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 46
Collections: Barisi Valentine’s Cliché Challenge





	Bedside Manner

**Author's Note:**

> Second entry for the Valentine's Cliché Challenge, and what an awesome challenge that is. Nothing gets my creative juices flowing like a good romcom scenario :D
> 
> This is for prompt 6, "Why is everything pink?"

There’s an addendum to Murphy’s Law that’s not commonly known, and it goes like this: If you are a detective, the chances of anything going wrong are directly proportional to the plans you made for the day in question. Everyone at Manhattan has a story or two to tell about their own experiences, but Sonny is nothing if not optimistic, and he thought long and hard about how to make this Valentine’s Day special.

Rafael and him have been a couple for about a year, and this is the first Valentine’s Day they’re going to celebrate together. In these recent months, Sonny has come to realise that despite being the king of sass at the Manhattan DA’s office, Rafi is also intensely private and doesn’t like over-the top gestures. He’s out and he’s proud to be seen with Sonny, but he’s reluctant to share his life outside the office with anyone who doesn’t belong to a small but tight-knit circle of friends.

Sonny’s taken all of that into account and planned accordingly. An evening at Rafi’s apartment, just for the two of them to relax and take away the stress, a home-cooked meal, and finally they would end up in the bedroom (or possibly the couch if the pent-up passion of barely seeing each other for days got the better of them). Depending on the mood, Sonny would surrender himself to Rafi’s hands and lips all over his body, or maybe he would take his sweet time worshiping every inch of the gorgeous man he’s lucky enough to date.

However, man proposes, and Murphy’s law disposes, and the whole squad is called out to take part in a sting. Since he apparently looks like someone young and raging to party after lockdown restrictions have been lifted, he’s the one who has to go UC – at a packed bar full of people decidedly not looking for romance, but a quick hook-up. Just perfect.

Since the DA’s office has already been involved in the investigation, just to make sure everything is above board, Sonny doesn’t actually have to grovel and explain anything to Rafael, which is good, but he’s annoyed nonetheless. His mood only worsens when the op that derailed his romantic evening is really fucking boring. Sonny sits by the bar, keeps an eye out for their perp and fends off drunken advances. What a way to spend the night, when he really was looking forward to some very _very_ welcome advances by his gorgeous boyfriend. He resists the urge to order scotch to remind himself of Rafael, and to drown his misery, and limits himself to light beer instead. Still, when it’s time to make their arrest, he feels surprisingly woozy.

Him and Rollins cuff the guy and mirandize him, but when they walk him out of the bar, the cold air hits Sonny like a sledgehammer. The world tilting on its axis is the last thing he remembers.

\---

He comes to with his limbs feeling like lead and his brain full of cotton. Up and down, left and right, are concepts he doesn’t really get, all his senses completely jumbled, and the only thing sort of grounding him is a soft, warm pressure somewhere on his body.

After a bit of blinking, he realises someone is holding his hand, their fingers threaded together.

Turning his head isn’t such a great idea, but it’s worth it when his gaze falls upon Rafael sitting by his bed.

Rafi must have come from work, because he’s still in his slacks and pristine white shirt. He’s wearing those pink-and-black striped suspenders Sonny adores so much, and a quick glance at his feet reveal a peek at his pink-and-white dotted socks. Sonny can’t remember what kind of pocket square his boyfriend was wearing today, but he’d bet a month’s salary it’s pink, too.

As he once again tries to cope with Rafael’s level of sartorial brilliance, Sonny slowly takes stock of his surroundings. He’s definitely in hospital, he can feel the lumpy mattress and he’s more than familiar with those ugly curtains partitioning off the individual cubicles. The glittery streamers and heart-shaped balloons are a bit unusual, though. He’s fairly sure he should remember what’s going on, but he’s still so out of it all he comes out with is,

“Why’s everything pink?”

That gets Rafael’s attention. He sits up and scoots closer to the bed. “It’s Valentine’s Day, soleado, remember?”

Oh.

That.

A day full of candied hearts and singing cards and a stupid sting at an overcrowded bar.

“Huh”, Sonny mutters, and Rafael laughs lightly and squeezes his hand. “It’s good that you’re awake already, the doctors said it might take longer.”

Sonny’s not entirely sure what to do with that information.

“What happened? I remember the bar, and the arrest, and then – “

The smile vanishes from Rafael’s face and is replaced with an intense scowl.

“You made the arrest and just as you were walking the perp out, you basically collapsed at Liv’s feet. You only had a light beer, so the doctors ran a blood sample. Turns out some overzealous wannabe cupid laced said beer with a homemade amphetamine cocktail. Nothing with any long-lasting effects, but it was pretty strong.”

“Did they catch who it was?”

“No, but the bartender admitted it’s been the third incident in a month where somebody was drugged. Narcotics will go in and set up an op, either they catch whoever does this or they shut the place down.”

Sonny just nods.

“When can I go home?”

Rafael lifts an eyebrow at his impatience.

“As soon as the drugs have been metabolised and that IV has run through, I think. But you should take it easy for the next couple of days. And by the way, you’re staying at mine so I can keep an eye on you.”

Sonny pouts. This is _so_ not how he pictured their first Valentine’s Day, and it’s also not how he envisioned his first longer stay at Rafi’s apartment. In his mind, it involved a long weekend free from any disturbances and with plenty of time to devote to each other, and not Rafi playing nursemaid and chaperone all rolled into one.

“I’m sorry, babe,” he mumbles.

Rafael looks at him, surprised. “You have nothing to be sorry for, soleado. That idiot meth-head though, when I get him in front of a jury – “

“No, it’s,” Sonny bites his lip. “I had it all planned out. I was gonna cook for you tonight, and let you pick the wine so you could wow me with your sophistication, and then I, ah, I had a surprise,” he’s not going to divulge that he bought some _very_ skimpy, _very_ tight pale pink briefs for himself to wear and for Rafi to enjoy tonight, “it’s our first Valentine’s as a real couple, and now it’s all ruined.”

“Oh, Sonny…” Rafael sighs and leans over to press a gentle kiss first to Sonny’s forehead, and then to the back of his hand. “Those things happen, especially when you’re dating a detective. It’s all good, I’m just glad you’re ok.”

Then, he smiles teasingly, affection bright in his eyes.

“And besides, this whole rushing to the hospital to be with your partner thing, that’s pretty disgustingly romantic, don’t you think? I’m sure there’s a movie somewhere.”

For once, Sonny doesn’t take the unspoken invitation for some banter about Rafael’s lack of pop culture knowledge, because he’s hung up on another part of the sentence.

“Rushing, huh?”

Rafael shrugs, clearly trying to appear nonchalant and not at all worried. Sonny doesn’t believe it for a minute, and his heart flutters.

He squeezes the hand Rafael had kept in his the whole time and gives a reassuring smile.

“Well, once I’m allowed to leave, how about you rush me home? We’ll order takeout, you can drink that wine, I’ll find that silly romcom and you can disparage it. How does that sound?”

It’s perfect.


End file.
